Drachm circa 490-470, AR 14 mm, 5.80 g. Wolf at bay l., on double line. Rev. Large "A" within incuse square; above, two deep incuses. Jameson 1253 (this coin). BCD Peloponnesos I, 1003. HGC 5, 657. Of the highest rarity, six specimens known of which only 3 are in private hands. Old cabinet tone and about very fine Ex J. Hirsch XXI, 1908, Weber (1830-1907), 2004 and Busso-Peus 428, 2021, 134 sales. Privately purchased from M&M in 1960. From the Jameson (1861-1942) and Dr. H.M. collections. Around 800 BC, at the end of the Dark Age in Greece, the city of Argos began to emerge from a group of smaller towns and villages in the Argive Plain. Associated with the new city was the construction of a large temple dedicated to the goddess Hera, who was said to have been born on a mountain near Argos. The earliest Argive coinage is extremely rare. There were only three known specimens (two in London and one in Paris) when Traité was published in 1907. The next year, this specimen was sold in the Consul Weber sale, and it was purchased by Rollin et Feuardent and apparently is now only the sixth known. The fact that all the specimens are quite worn suggests that they were used for a long time. The Argives' devastating defeat at Sepeia in 494 BC to the Spartans under Kleomenes I, in which they lost six thousand hoplites, could be one explanation for this. Herodotus claims that the Spartan army deceived the Argives into thinking they were heading to their evening meal. When the Argives followed suit, the Spartans grabbed their weapons and launched an assault, winning the battle handily. The Spartan narrative surrounding the battle is contentious since, according to Herodotus, the last Argives were killed by Spartan King Kleomenes, who burned them alive in the sacred grove of Argos, where they had sought safety. One possible reason for this may be ascribed to the devastating defeat at Sepeia in 494 BC against the Spartans under Kleomenes I. After it, Argos's prosperity was greatly hampered by a serious deficit during the following generation. A century later, in 370–350 BC, Argos produced a second significant coinage; before that it appears that only smaller fractions were made. Please find here the video of the coin